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“Baekhyun! Stop this!”
Kyungsoo’s voice sounded anything but amused as he flinched, pulling back his hand. An electric spark had hit him, paralysing his fingers for a moment as he had tried to touch the other, and Baekhyun felt the guilt wash over him.
“I’m sorry” he breathed out, letting out a sigh and ruffling his hair.
He was really trying.
But this was just so god damn hard! And he had no idea how he was supposed to keep this inner voltage from discharging.
It was already hard enough when no one touched him – but as soon as someone did – it felt like a blockade was lifted. Like something in him finally found some room to move and all but bolted out there.
And that was what resulted in him shocking people every time he didn’t put his all into it. But what was he supposed to do?
Some people touched him without him realising it before – there was nothing that he could do. The only good thing was that the sparks seemed to be of a low intensity. No one had dropped dead until now and Baekhyun definitely saw that as an achievement.
Kyungsoo scowled but at least didn’t scold him anymore. He knew it already. If he kept throwing around electricity like that he was of no use to them.
They had only recently lost another group member and now this… accident had happened, rendering Jongdae and him nearly useless.
“I know.” The dark haired male licked over his lips, shaking out his hand to get the feeling back to his digits.
“I know you don’t mean to do it. Just… get your shit together. You and Jongdae. And change back. Without you two any infiltration mission is like suicide.”
Baehyun pouted. It was nice to hear that they were vital parts of this team, but at the same time he was feeling like he was letting them all down.
If he concentrated hard enough he could make lights flicker already. Sometimes even switch devices on or off.
But wielding lightning like Jongdae used to?
Never.
Especially not after only one week of them swapping powers.
“We might do fine… I can switch out light. If I try hard enough I might be able to take out cameras or security systems…”
He just wanted to be of help and not be left behind.
Most of them didn’t have anyone left out there anymore.
Exodus was all they had left – their family. And being of no help to them… it put him down. A lot. And he knew from Jongdae that he felt the same, though the younger was fairing way better than him.
Well, my powers aren’t as complicated as his… there is no perpetual current flowing through me or something.
“No.” Kyungsoo answered immediately.
“It’ll be fine. You heard the Captain.”
Baekhyun nodded. Yeah, he remembered Joonmyeon’s long speech clearly.
“It’s better if you two focus on swapping back than getting yourselves in dangerous situations.” Kyungsoo went on and then patted him on his shoulder. There was no hesitation from him and Baekhyun was glad for it.
This time he saw it coming and the smaller could pull his hand away without grimacing.
“I know. We are trying.”
The other offered a smile.
“We know. For now Chanyeol is covering your part. Though it’s a little… inconvenient to run around with open flames, but… it has to do for now.”
Baekhyun couldn’t help but snicker, imagining Chanyeol running around with a fire burning in his hand all the time.
“So. He a candle now. I won’t let him forget that.”
That earns him an eye roll from the black haired male, but he also knows that Kyungsoo is enjoying this as much as he was. Teasing Chanyeol was easy. And always fun.
As long as it was in good sports of course.
If Chanyeol didn’t kick your ass for stupid comments then Kyungsoo surely would in his stead.
“Anyway. You two work on that. Captain’s orders. At least Jongdae stopped with the glowing thing.”
Oh. Yeah. The glowing thing. Baekhyun was also really glad that that had stopped after four nights. Apparently Jongdae had been fine controlling the light during daytime but as soon as he closed his eyes… There had been rays of light bursting out of him that Baekhyun hadn’t been able to sleep a wink.
After enduring it for a few hours (and countless of attempts at shaking the other awake without going blind) Baekhyun had fled the room and crashed first in Sehun’s bunk, then in Kyungsoo’s the next night and Minseok’s the next.
Fortunately, Jongdae had managed to keep it in check after that. Baekhyun couldn’t even remember if he had had the same problem once his powers had awoken…
But then again, these powers were swapped.
Borrowed, so to say. They did not have their born affinity with these powers and so it seemed only natural that problems would arise.
“Yeah. He did. He almost never glows anymore, only when he starts having a laughing fit.” He chuckled, knowing that that was more often than not.
But that was okay. He could control it as soon as he concentrated again.
“But yeah I get it. You be safe tonight ok?”
Kyungsoo nodded.
“You know us. Besides, Jongin is with us as our emergency exit.”
Baekhyun nodded, but stayed mum. They both knew that Jongin could only teleport one person alongside him and that they usually operated in teams of three or four. Jongin could teleport back yes, but it took him some time and a lot of strength as well.
Yet, they both chose to close this matter. They all knew that if something went wrong the ones who were not teleported out were doomed. For this instance, they all carried small capsules with them, easy to hide and even easier to swallow.
Baekhyun supressed a shudder, suddenly feeling like the hidden medication weighed a ton in his pocket.
They all hoped that it would never come to this.
But who knew?
They were a secret agency working in the shadows for the government. No one could foresee what would happen. They already lost three of their small family.
The Exodus members could only hope that these were also the last.
“Understood. I’ll go see Jongdae.”
Kyungsoo nodded, and went his way without touching him again. Maybe that was for the better too. With his emotions running wild, Baekhyun had already learned that the sparks grew in intensity.
He let out a sigh before ruffling his pink locks. It was really getting annoying. At first, it had been kind of fun.
This stupid thunderstorm had been swirling over their headquarters as it seemed to be drawn in by Jongdae’s presence. Which was not really uncommon for them actually. They had had some storms like that before only that this time, a lightning bolt actually hit the building, connected with their lightning user and –
If Baekhyun was honest, he couldn’t remember what happened after that. He still remembered the loud tremor of a thunder above them and then everything had gone white. It was Jongdae who filled him in afterwards, after he had opened his eyes again and feeling utterly drained of all his energy.
Which had kind of happened, only that there was a new, foreign source of power now swirling within him. And causing nothing but trouble.
According to his best friend’s tale the lightning bolt had connected them (surprisingly without killing him, thank you) and Jongdae had tried to control it but something had ripped from him and then he had lost consciousness too.
It had only taken them ten minutes to find out what was wrong then.
His best friend had nearly started crying when he had tried to switch on the TV with his powers only to find that he couldn’t. That he was empty and he could not tap the strange power source within him.
A moment later he had started glowing like the sun itself, nearly rendering him and Yixing blind in their shared living room.
But yeah.
He controlled the glow thing now. It was better.
Baekhyun though? He was doing terrible.
Anyway.
He knew that the Captain and Kyungsoo were right. They would probably only cause more harm than good on missions. They needed to concentrate on switching back. Not that they hadn’t tried already.
They had willed it back. Called for it. Held hands and had tried to connect to each other.
Nothing had worked.
Even trying to battle each other with their terrible abilities had done nothing.
They were still stuck like that.
And it frustrated the both of them. He growled, taking the last turn to the corridor were their sleeping quarters were located.
They were put in pairs, with their Captain having a single room. Baekhyun and Jongdae had always shared a room. Ever since they both joined Exodus at the same time, they just clicked and went with it.
Now, the pink haired male knew that he couldn’t have asked for a better friend. A better partner. Anyone better.
He and Jongdae… they were good for each other.
A tingling ripple went through him and he immediately bit the inside of his cheek to stop the electric powers from going viral in him.
No, he told himself. Stay vigilant and don’t lose focus.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and just when he looked up again he already found Jongdae waiting for him.
“Hey!” he grinned
“Sorry… I tried talking to him. Well, okay I didn’t even get to the Captain as Kyungsoo interfered and… yeah. You know. They want us to stay back…”
Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders but narrowed his eyes when his best friend didn’t answer. Actually he had expected loud whining by now. But… his best friend stayed silent, a small smile on his lips as he stared at him.
“Dae?”
Okay something was wrong here…? Was he zoning out? Had he fallen asleep? It sounded so unlikely but judging the way his best friend behaved right now…
Baekhyun moved closer, his hand coming up to shake the other out of his stupor.
Only that his hand went right through him.
The former light user’s eyes widened as his hand had hit nothing solid.
“Holy shit!” he pulled his hand back and tried again, but he couldn’t touch Jongdae, who still showed the same small smile,“Jongdae you-"
Baekhyun couldn’t even explain what was happening. His best friend was ? What was he? Had he become a ghost? Just holy fucking shit-
The image of the other suddenly started flickering and Baekhyun could only watch in horror as his best friend dissolved into nothing but thin air.
“Jongdae? Jongdae!”
He looked around frantically, searching for the brunet who had just disappeared. Right in front of his eyes!
Was this another power user? Someone they did not know about? But why had he kidnapped Jongdae like this and just-
“Angh!” he cried out, his body trembling as he lost control and currents started to go berserk in him.
“Shit, shit-“
“Easy there Baek!”
Jongdae walked up to him, his face showing nothing but worry.
“Calm down. Hush. You have it under control!”
Baekhyun blinked.
The voltage in him did seem to calm down, but only because he was utterly puzzled in that moment.
“You- “ he started gaping like a fish caught fresh out of the water.
“Me?” the brunet answered touching his shoulders now to keep him from trembling. Apparently, he had the currents under control or Jongdae did not let it show that he was being electrized right now.
“You were just there-“ he stopped mid-sentence and pointed to where he had seen Jongdae standing not even a moment ago.
“You were there. But I couldn’t touch you. And then you… you made poof and you were gone and-“
He was blabbering and by the way that Jongdae frowned he could tell that his best friend had a hard time following him.
But he didn’t really care right now. He was absolutely dumbstruck – what had he just witnessed?
His best friend didn’t seem to be surprised however. He started grinning all of a sudden and the pink haired power user knew that he felt proud right now.
“Yeah! You didn’t think I would manage this in just a week’s time, huh?”
Baekhyun blinked. He had no idea what the other was talking about.
“Manage what?”
Jongdae rolled his eyes, cackling before he nudged the elder.
“Don’t play dumb!” he whined
“The lightbreaking! It’s pretty cool, huh? I did it well!” he kept on grinning, wriggling his eyebrows in Baekhyun’s direction.
“Light… what?”
Now it was Jongdae’s time to freeze, furrowing his brows in bewilderment.
“Wait.” He said coming closer so their noses were almost touching.
Holy shit, Bakehyun’s thoughts went haywire. If he came any closer then they could-
“Are you telling me that you didn’t know about this ability of yours?”
“Which… ability?”
He really couldn’t follow here.
But… but at least Jongdae seemed okay. He was here, right in front of him, grinning. And this time he was definitely solid.
Baekhyun felt the warmth of his hands on his shoulders, felt his breath hitting his cheek and if he tried hard enough he felt his own light based power resting inside the other.
It was kind of an odd feeling but… Jongdae needed to be really close in order for him to feel it.
Baekhyun was relieved for the most part.
His arms came up and he pulled him into a bear hug.
“I’m sorry if I am shocking you now” he whispered, tightening his grip
“And I don’t even care what this Lightbreaking is supposed to be. But… you are here. You didn’t disappear on me…”
He bit the inside of his cheek again as he felt a wave of dread washing over him.
Losing Jongdae?
Baekhyun didn’t know if he would be able to continue with his work for Exodus if it ever came to that.
“My, my” Jongdae patted his back and squeezed back
“Silly. Of course I am here. You think you can get rid of me that easily, Byun Baekhyun? Then you don’t know me as well as I thought!” he teased and Baekhyun pouted, shoving the other off.
“You’re a jerk! Playing stupid pranks on me!”
“Says the one who exchanged Kyungsoo’s toothpaste with mustard.” His best friend countered, rolling his eyes.
Baekhyun glared at him.
“Not the point.”
“So that was you?” a voice piped up and the both of them turned into the direction of the sound.
Chanyeol walked up to them, clad in their special gear for nightly jobs, looking extremely tired with those dark circles beneath his eyes.
They were all working harder now that they were two men short.
“Uhm… yes?”
The tall male grumbled then and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Kyungsoo blamed me for a whole week! He wouldn’t even talk to me and that’s just cause of you” he complained, pouting.
“In all fairness, it was Sehun’s idea. So… please don’t kill me?” Baekhyun offered, a hesitant smile on his lips.
Chanyeol just waved his hand.
“Not right now. With my luck, you’ll electrocute me if I try to strangle you.”
Jongdae snickered and nudged Chanyeol.
“Fair point.” The two of them shared a look and Baekhyun grumbled.
“Well. Sorry that I can’t control lightning as well as our lightning user.”
The tallest of them just snickered.
“Don’t tell me you are really still stuck with each other’s powers?”
Jongdae and him grumbled, nodding their heads. Yeah… nothing had changed as they still didn’t know how to solve this.
Maybe they would need another thunderstorm to revert their powers. They had no clue at all.
“Sucks” he shrugged his shoulders, passing them and opening the door of his and Kyungsoo’s room only to come back out after a moment, fastening his watch.
“Forgot that before. And now I need to run. But maybe you two should try it with a kiss?” he winked at them as he passed.
“Maybe then everything will be well! Cheers!”
They were left alone a second later and they lifted their gazes, looking at each other.
They both frowned.
A kiss?
That was truly absurd. Both of them shook their heads before they turned to enter their room now.
Baekhyun wouldn’t mind the kiss… But the thought that this would solve their problem… it was unlikely, right? Unfortunately. Besides, Jongdae surely wouldn’t want to kiss him.
Okay. He definitely needed to distract himself right now and luckily, he knew just the topic.
“So,” he plopped down on his bed, “Lightbreaking. Tell me about it.”
Jongdae mimicked him, dropping on his own comfortable bed.
“I still can’t process that you didn’t know. Did you really think you were only a lightbulb?”
Baekhyun pouted.
“Don’t make fun of me now…” he grumbled and his best friend gifted him a smile.
“I’m sorry. Anyway. Lightbreaking… I just… I bend the light to create illusions. Like Mirages? But it seems like I can only do it with people or things that I know well. But I can only project one image. Can’t make it move or anything.”
Baekhyun listened to his best friend ramble on and on. He felt stupid for not trying this out himself.
He had held this power for nearly five years by now and never had he…
Oh gosh, he was truly retarded, wasn’t he? Jongdae did this in less than seven days… But his best friend tried his hardest to explain the mechanics so Baekhyun could try it out once they switched back.
He felt his eyes dropping close slowly.
“Hey Dae?” he whispered long after the brunet had finished talking. He didn’t even know if he was still awake.
“Hm?” came a lazy reply
“You don’t… think that Chanyeol is right, do you?”
“About what?”
Baekhyun was so close to dropping the subject but his hazy mind just went on.
“About the kiss.”
He heard Jongdae shuffle beneath his sheets.
“Dunno. Wanna try?”
The pink haired male’s heart skipped a beat.
He must have misheard that. Or misunderstood. Or maybe he was already dreaming.
“The… kiss?”
“Mhm~”
So the other was serious about this? Baekhyun felt his heart beating faster, the currents in his body gaining intensity, so close to discharging that he suddenly felt like choking.
“Angh-“
What was happening now? The power within him was about to overwhelm him and he tried everything in his might to push it back. He had no idea what would happen if he lost control. But he knew it couldn’t end well. Especially not with someone else in the room. With Jongdae in the room.
“Baek! Baek!”
He hadn’t even realised that he had spaced out. Slowly but surely, his vision was coming back, from black to colourful. Spots still decorated his view but he could make out Jongdae, just a breath away from him with his hands on his cheeks.
Baekhyun’s eyes widened.
“Let go!” he said immediately, "I’m afraid to hurt you!”
But Jongdae was ever persistent. He tightened his grip and leaned their foreheads together.
“It’s alright. I’m used to some small sparks anyway. Even I couldn’t hold it down all the time, you know?” he grinned at the pink haired male.
Baekhyun smiled back, but it was a weak smile. Yet, he felt the power calming down even if he could not tell if it was his own doing or Jongdae who was somehow influencing his own power here.
“So. About the kiss.”
Baekhyun’s brown eyes shifted, locking with Jongdae’s own.
“You really want to try?”
The brunet nodded, leaning in.
“Just don’t shock me.”
“What do you mean with-“
His world went white for a moment. Jongdae’s hot mouth collided with his own as their lips met, his best friend being more demanding than he had ever imagined.
Baekhyun didn’t even notice that he had closed his eyes, far too busy with keeping their mouths coming together.
Shit, he thought.
He knew that kissing Jongdae would be impressive, but he didn’t fathom that it would be like this. (Reading: the best kiss he had ever received in his life, with their game of nibbling and nipping, neither of them ready to cut this kiss short.)
It felt like his heart was actually beating in his throat, and he swore that he was sending small sparks down his own spine.
Was this even possible? Could he electrize himself?
When they pulled apart, all coherent thoughts had left his brain. He could only grin like some maniac, leaning in to get a last peck of those plump lips when Jongdae jumped, clasping his hand over his lips.
“Shit!”
Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he immediately understood what had happened.
He had shocked the other – right when he thought that he had this under control. That nothing could happen.
Now Jongdae was rubbing his lip, being all careful to not upset it further and the pink haired male just wanted to vanish through a hole in the ground.
“I’m so sorry!” he whined
“Did… I hurt you badly?”
Jongdae shook his head.
“’s okay.” He answered with a lisp as talking with a swollen bottom lip was definitely difficult.
“Maywe we shouwd just not do that again whiwe we awe like this.”
Baekhyun sighed, guilt swimming so obviously in his eyes.
“Yeah. I am sorry.”
Jongdae nudged him.
“Hey. I know you didn’t want that to happen! Cheew up okay? We will swap back soon.”
Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders.
“And when? It’s been over a week! I thought maybe it will just wear off after some time, but we are still stuck like this. I am utterly useless with your power in me, I can’t control it for shit and I just keep on hurting the people I like or love and-“
He stopped, horrified.
He knew what he had done just now. Indirectly and maybe subtle but his confession was out in the open right now and even though he wanted to get those words back into his mouth, he couldn’t.
“Baek, was that-“
Jongdae stopped mid-sentence as well as a loud thunder crashed above them.
They both blinked but then started grinning. Obviously, the same thought had struck them.
“Shit, how do I do this?”
He looked at Jongdae with pleading eyes.
“How do I make the lightning bolt hit the building again?” This was their chance. He had no idea when another thunderstorm would hit Seoul the next time.
So this… this was their moment.
Jongdae took his hands in his own and squeezed.
“Call for it. Feel it. Will it to bend to your command and make it follow your order.” He whispered and Baekhyun knew that this would never work out.
Calling out to lightning?
Yeah, he could kind of communicate with the small currents in cables and small harnesses but that was it. A lightning bolt?
That was a different calibre entirely.
“You can do it” Jongdae’s voice calmed him down.
“Just try. Concentrate. I know you can do it.”
Baekhyun knew that there was no way out of it. And he didn’t want to disappoint Jongdae. He didn’t want to disappoint himself, either.
He was doing terribly with these borrowed powers but now… they needed him.
And he really had enough of feeling useless.
He wanted his actual power back.
And… he wanted to finish this with Jongdae. Wanted to settle things and be clear now that it was already out in the open with no chance of denying it.
He knew that his best friend had caught on.
Lightning crackled, but the elder was sure that it was only audible to his ears. If he closed his eyes and tried hard enough he could feel the way the bolt had taken, the pattern it had painted across the sky.
He felt it and he wanted to grasp it.
Baekhyun needed to grasp the next one and make it hit the building.
Thunder roared.
There!
“Come on!” he screamed, putting all of his willpower into this. He felt the bolt forming, felt the power that was surging within it and then… then he commanded it, dragging it away from its path and let it hit their home right on.
The antenna caught it and Baekhyun felt the raw power flow through every line and wire in this building.
It came closer and he squeezed Jongdae’s hands and hoped to every deity beyond that he hadn’t just signed their death sentence.
It hit.
And his world went black.
⇜ ⇝
When he woke again it felt like his world had been turned upside down.
It felt like something had been ripped from his insides. It felt like… he had been hit by a lightning bolt.
And as far as he remembered, if these hazy memories weren’t utter fiction, then that was exactly what had happened.
“Shit…” he muttered, rubbing his head.
How long had he been out like this? He was on his bed, that was good. And he wasn’t dead, which was fantastic actually.
But what about-
“Jongdae!”
Baekhyun jolted, sitting upright on his bed. Terror gripped him as he thought about his best friend who had been there with him.
Who had been holding his hands and who had been hit by the same bolt and-
“Yeah?”
Came the brunet’s voice and Baekhyun all but fell back onto the mattress.
“You asshole.” He breathed out.
Of course.
Of course Jongdae was alright and just teasing him again. He had never feel so happy about being teased as in this moment when Jongdae’s grinning face appeared above his own. His best friend had straddled him, hovering above him.
“Welcome back. It’s not my fault that you always panic first before you evaluate.” He snickered and Baekhyun wanted to kiss that stupid grin away.
He almost did.
But first, he lifted his hand.
A tiny, glowing aura of light appeared, dancing in his palm to the beat of his heart. He extinguished it a moment later, smiling tiredly.
“Chanyeol was right.” he said and loved how Jongdae pressed closer, leaning their foreheads together.
“With the kiss?”
Baekhyun hummed in approval.
“Maybe.” Jongdae cackled, “at least we are back to normal now. You are back to being a lightbulb and I can finally switch on the TV again without moving.”
Bakehyun rolled his eyes
“We do have a remote control, you know.”
“Not the point!” Jongdae whined and the pink haired male couldn’t help but smile.
“Okay, now that we changed back…”, he searched for Jongdae’s eyes
“Yeah?”
“Can we… repeat yesterday?”
The kissing part, he wanted to say, but the words had been stuck in his throat. His best friend didn’t seem to mind though as he started smiling brightly.
“Only if you don’t send sparks my way anymore.”
Baekhyun pouted and nudged the male above him.
“I can’t! Jerk. We switched back!”
“Fine, fine!” Jongdae grinned and tugged him closer by his collar.
“Don’t blame me though if I lose control.” He whispered and then their lips connected, picking up where they left off without further ado.
He moaned into the kiss, opening his lips for the other as he felt small jolts run through his body again.
But he decided that if kissing Jongdae was always this electrifying, he did not intend to stop anytime soon.